Monday, February 16, 2015

Long Red Studley and the 1834 Wm.Prince Seed Catalog

Recommended Selection of Vegetables from 1835; 1834 Wm.Prince  Seed Catalog


I just found this sitting in drafts.  Since I recently did a post from 1873 on recommended vegetables I might as well carry on the theme.  There is a pleasant contrariness to writing about vegetable gardens while snow fall and the weather man goes on about Blizzard Warnings.

In the following article I particularly like the spelling variations, such as "turneps".   That was probably a printer error, as Prince's 1834 catalog lists Turnips!  
And it is hard to beat a name like "Long Red Studley"!!  

(Oh, bummer...reading the original catalog it is the carrot Long Red, Studley, or Surrey.  Phooey, darn comma, that isn't funny at all. That typesetter must have done this job after lunch and a few beers too many.)

While linking the Wm.Prince & Sons below to a previous Prince page, I saw that I hadn't given much information on the formidable family of botanists and horticulturists.  They deserve more, and now I am curious why I stopped before! They listed their location on this catalog as "Flushing, near New-York"

(Studley Park was a fertile estate in Yorkshire that competed with success in the active Victorian horticultural shows...maybe that is the Studley?)



Selection of Vegetables for 1835
Mb. L. Tucker—We have been repeatedly asked to designate the finest varieties of vegetables, and we now enumerate some of the most desirable, and will do so with regard to others at a future opportunity.
Yours very respectfully,
Wm Prince Sons,  Linnean Botanic Garden, near N. Y., March 7,1835

Beet—Long Blood, Early Turnep Blood, Early Yellow Turnep, Early White Sugar.
Brocoli—Grange's Cape, Sulphur Colored, Purple Cape, and New Imperial Late Dwarf White.
Cauliflower—Early, and Half Hardy.
CabbageEarliest French, Early York, Early Royal Dwarf, Large York, French Oxheart, Early Emperor, Bonneuil, Harvest Battersea, Large Late Bergen, Early Savoy, Cape Savoy, Monstrous French Savoy, Large Pancalier Savoy, the latter extra fine and far surpassing the kinds of Savoy usually cultivated.
Carrot—Early Scarlet Hom, Altringham, Long Red Studley, and Large White.
Celery-Turkish Large White Solid, North's Giant Red, Dwarf Curled.
Cucumber—Early Long Frame, Long Green Prickly, Long Green Turkey, Early Green Cluster, and Long Green Southgate, for table, the latter longest of all; and the Small Green and Gherkin for pickles.
Endive—Italian Green Curled, and White Batavian.
Indian Corn—Early White Tuscarora, and Sweet or Sugar.
Lettuce—Early Curled Silesia, Large Early White French, Versailles, Turkish, and Red Edged Early White, as Head or Cabbage Lettuces for spring and summer towing; and Florence Coss, Magnum Bonum Coss, and Monstrous Coss, for loose, or less solid heads. The Coss Lettuces are deemed sweeter and more tender than the cabbage varieties.
Onion—Early Silver Skinned and Pale Red Madeira, are earliest of all, and sure to attain their size the first season. The Yellow Dutch, not quite as early, but produces very large onion the first season.
Melon—Pine Apple, Persian, Citron, Skillman's Netted, Minorca, Netted Romana, French Muscadc, Malta Winter, all of which arc green fleshed. The Cohansa, Imperial, Cyprian, Green Fleshed Sugar, Largo Yellow Cantaloup, and other Cantaloup varieties are also valuable.
Peas—Six Weeks, Washington, Dwarf Blue Imperial, Dwarf Green Marrow, Knight's Marrow, Woodford's Marrow, and various others.
PumpkinSpanish Cheese, Yellow Cheese, &c.
RadishEarliest French Scarlet, very tender and earliest of all, Mason's Scarlet Short Top, Salmon, and White Naples, as long varieties. The Scarlet, Violet and White Turnep varieties are best for early sowing, and the Yellow Turnep and Spanish varieties for hot seasons, or for tropical climates.
Squash—Summer Bush, Summer Crookneck Bush, Vegetable Marrow, and Italian, for early ; White Canada, Yellow Fall Crookneck, for autumn ; and Teneriff, Acoin, and Cocoanut, for winter.
Turnep—Early White, and Early Yellow Dutch, White Stone, Yellow Stone, &c, for spring sowing as garden varieties


To put the age of this 1834 Wm. Prince & Sons catalog into perspective, Prince still lists Tomatoes with the alternative name Love Apple. 

Under Indian Corn he lists a variety called Mottled Pearl.  I wonder if that is the old variety that has recently become the hot heritage variety that we currently call Gem.  The Gem kernels are pearlescent...Pearl is a better name.  Later: In another publication I found reference to "Mottled, or Curious Pearl" and I think they are pop corn, so the pearl refers to the round seed. This thought was backed up by another list from a 1835 Genesee Farmer where Pearl is Pop.

























Sunday, February 15, 2015

Winter Scene on Seedsman's Tradecard

Snowed another 6 inches last night, but we missed the coastal heavy snow!!  Poor Boston.

Anyway, this trade card caught my eye and I thought I would share it with you.

I wonder if Mr. Sibley gave out the cards during the season depicted.
I have found many cards online, and all the seasons are represented.
I assume he did as otherwise is silly.




I love detailed pictures of factory buildings. 
I think the little people are out of scale.  What do you think?


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Phantom Flowers and Skeleton Leaves

Front CoverToday I just wanted to share an interesting book I just came across a few minutes ago.



Phantom FlowersA Treatise on the Art of Producing Skeleton Leaves 

J.E. Tilton, 1864













Monday, February 9, 2015

"Then comes lettuce." Leads to Odd Illustrations of 19th C. Seed Farm Operation


"There's a host of good early kinds," said Mrs. Chose. 'Tennis Ball,' and ' Early Egg,' and ' White Silesia,' and ' Simpson.' Then for hot weather, 'Malta Drumhead' is good, and 'Neapolitan,' and 'Asiatic,' and the 'Cos' varieties. 'All the Year Round' has a name, but I haven't tried it."

Miss Tiller' Gets Advice: Ideal Seed Selection for a Small Market Garden in 1873




First, I didn't know Cos lettuce is what is sold as romaine nowadays.  Romaine wasn't well known in North America even into the 1890s if a Canadian report I found was accurate.  On the other hand, the Cabbage lettuce below is known to us as an iceberg lettuce.


When looking for illustrations and catalogs selling these varieties I tried a D. M. Ferry catalog from 1875.  Success!...sort of, I'm not being too picky about the exact variety.   And I noticed in a Henderson was still selling Tennis Ball eleven years later in 1884.  Oddly named lettuce, isn't it?



The D. M. Ferry catalog is a fascinating look into their business.  

The first illustration of the 6:45 Roll Call is rather grim I thought, but obviously, to Ferry, it is a fine showing of the size of the company.  I rather like the idea of a roll call compared to a time clock though.  Click on the images to see them full sized so you can enjoy the detail!

 Looks like the ladies got to do the hoeing while the men worked with the horse equipment.



This following print certainly rubs me the wrong way!!
Male overseers standing around making sure the ladies weed correctly.





































Sunday, February 8, 2015

Old Photos of Gardeners With Their Hoes, plus some Hoe Advice



The photos of the men who proudly stand with
the hoe as if on parade are my favorites, 
but this first photo is wonderful!
 Look at that grape arbor!



I have been tossing photos of gardeners using tools into a folder. Today I noticed that all but one were using a hoe!   It seemed a blog post made in heaven so I found this advice from Samuel Wood to round it out.

The Plain Path to Good Gardening; or, How to grow vegetables, fruits, & flowers successfully by Samuel Wood (gardener.) 1871

Front Cover
HOEING—When And How To Do It.
Shall speak of this in reference to earthing up crops under "The Potato;"—general hoeing should be done carefully and constantly, but never in wet weather, for then few weeds fail to seed; nevertheless let hoeing be done in time,—
'' For one year's seeding
Brings seven years' weeding."
Besides taking the nutriment out of the soil which the crop should have, every inch of weed is destructive of so much of its virtue, and in conjunction with the crop acts like two crops; therefore ply the hoe freely as soon as weeds appear above ground, whether the land is cropped or not.
 Do not draw the hoe too deeply into the soil, for then some weeds only become partly buried with sufficient earth to nourish their growth and seeding, especially some of the grasses, chickweed, &c. 
In hoeing it is important to draw the hoe just under the roots of the weeds, and to hoe every inch of the surface, if the land is foul, but do not hoe six inches and leave three inches untouched, with simply some earth drawn over it, as this is easily and frequently done by mistake.
Cast-steel hoes are the best for light land and among crops. Use short, square, and long-necked hoes for earthing up, the half-moon short-necked for drilling, and for stiff and beaten", old-cropped land, a good, heavy, short-necked, steel faced bean-hoe, as it is called by farmers.
 To handle a hoe well choose a straight and inflexible stick four feet long; and of a size a trifle larger than the ring of the hoe; drive the handle into the hoe, set it up on the end of the handle, and draw the edge of the hoe by one corner on the wall, or a door, making a mark; keep the handle in the same place on the ground, and try the other corner of the hoe; if this come exactly in the same mark the hoe is handled correctly, if not, re-adjust it, otherwise it will not wear equally. The hoe should be kept flat; that is, the whole edge, and not the corners only, of the hoe should be made to do the work.




I'm not sure what this tool is, a scuffle hoe?  I love this lady.



I bet you did not know that Hercule Poirot was a secret gardener.